Anthropology/archeology/folklore

Pueblos of the Mesa Verde: southwestern canyon country yields clues to the settlement patterns and eventual exodus of the Anasazi

Article Abstract:

The Pueblo peoples, also known as Anasazi, had migrated from Mesa Verde and the Four Corners region to other parts of Arizona and New Mexico by ca. 1300. Mesa Verde had been a center of their regional culture marked by large pueblo-style villages. A drought between 1276 and 1300, climate changes, over-population with a reduction in natural resources and the role of kachina ceremonialism have been cited as the main reasons for their migration. Kachina ceremonialism was a religious practice to maintain social cohesion.

Chaco death squads: two new books address prehistoric warfare in the Southwest; one suggests a reign of terror by a warrior cult from Mexico

Article Abstract:

The Pueblo period of US Southwestern prehistory was long thought to have been peaceful and harmonious. Two new books have challenged this view. Seven A. LeBlanc's Prehistoric Warfare in the American Southwest adduces evidence for three distinct periods of warfare in the Pueblo Southwest. Man Corn, a highly controversial work by Christy G. Turner II and Jacqueline A. Turner, found evidence for cannibalism during this period, though the case for this remains doubtful.

Flight of the Anasazi: where did they go after abandoning Mesa Verde? A site in southern New Mexico provides intriguing clues

Article Abstract:

The site's attraction and the excavation details of the a ptly named Pinnacle Ruin, and the solutions for disappearance of Anasazi are discussed. The evidence suggests that Anasazi used to move long distances to new homes.